Razor blade and holder therefor



Aug. 15, 1939. J E, DREW 2,169,383

RAZOR BLADE AND HOLDER THEREFOR Filed July 10, 1936 F IE1.

INVENTO X14, 6. BY 1 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 15, 1939 PATENT OFFICE RAZORBLADE AND HOLDER THEREFOR John E. Drew, Jersey City, N. J assignor toDurham Duplex Razor Company, Jersey City, N. J a corporation of New YorkApplication July 10, 1936, Serial No. 89,875

11 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in razor blades of the typecommonly known as safety razor blades and more particularly to bladesadapted for use in a holder or razor of the type 5 disclosed in thepatent to Bigoney No. 1,791,558,

granted February 10, 1931. The invention further involves certainimprovements in the holder made possible by the improved bladeconstruction.

An object of the invention has been to increase the flexibility ofcertain portions of the blade in a transverse direction withoutsubstantially reducing the rigidity of the cutting edge in alongitudinal direction. This has been accomplished by a suitableformation of the blade, without reducing its thickness or changing thecharacter of the material used.

In providing the blade with increased flexibility, certain distinctadvantages have been derived. It has been possible, for example, toincrease the pressure with which the forward portion of the blade,adjacent the cutting edge, may be forced against the edge of the guard,thereby insuring better contact between the blade and guard throughoutthe length of the blade and insuring a more uniform shaving action. Thetendency of prior blades to gap away from the edge of the guard adjacentthe center of the blade has been overcome. Moreover, the increasedflexibility of the blade permits a positive lock to be provided betweenthe blade and holder, thereby guarding against accidental displacementof the blade in the course of shaving.

I-Ieretofore, blades of the character to which the present inventionrelates have relied entirely upon certain relatively slender tongues toproduce the desired pressure of the blades against the guard. Thesetongues have created weakened sections which have prevented hardening ofthe blades to a desired degree due to the risk'of breaking the tongues.Blades embodying the present improvement, however, utilize a portion ofthe blade body to assist in creating the desired pressure and,therefore, the danger of breaking the tongues is greatly reduced. Thismakes it possible toharden the blade to a greater extent withoutsubstantial risk of breakage.

A further advantage of the new blade is that its form is such that itmay be readily cleaned 50 and may be thoroughly dried without danger ofhaving the towel caught at any point and damaged.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from adetailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the same, whichwill now be given in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, inwhich: 7

Figure 1 is a front view of a holder having the improved blade mountedtherein.

Figure 2 is an enlarged side view of the holder and blade.

Figure 3 is an enlarged, vertical section taken along the line 3-3 ofFigure 1, and

Figure 4 is a plan view of the improved blade.

Referring now to the drawing, the preferred form of holder, which is ofthe type disclosed in the before-mentioned Bigoney Patent No. 1,791,553,comprises a handle l0 carrying a bladereceiving head at its upper end.This head preferably has a cap portion ll arranged to fit over the endof the handle and secured to the latter in any convenient way, as bymeans of a rivet. A horizontally extending shelf portion 12 is providedin the plane of and integral with the top of the cap II and serves as alower guard. The

forward edge l3 of this shelf is of comb-tooth formation, the teethterminating just in rear of the plane of the blade. At each end of theshelf I2 is a vertically extending side wall it. these walls beingintegrally connected with a guard plate l5 extending across the front ofthe holder. The outer face of each wall i4 is grooved or cut away over alimited area, as indicated at It in Figure 2, and presents a cam surfaceI! facing upwardly and toward the front of the holder. At the center ofthe top of the guard plate It: a deep, arcuate notch, defined by thearcuate edge It, is formed. This allows for the gripping of the bladebetween the thumb and finger in applying and removing the blade. At eachside of the arcuate notch, the upper edge of the plate I5 is formed witha slight rearward projection l9 providing a stop shoulder to retain theblade in position in the holder, as will be explained more fullyhereinafter.

In Figure 4 there is shown the preferred form of blade embodying thefeatures of i the present invention. This blade consists of a main bodyportion 20 provided with a tongue 21 extending downwardly from the upperedge at each end of the body. In line with or opposite the tongues 2|,each side of the body of the blade is formed with a V-notch defined byan upper edge 22 and a lower edge 23. These edges together with thetongues 2| define a pair of substantially closed triangular openings 24through the blade. The

' corners 25 and 26 of the triangles are preferably rounded or otherwiseformed to eliminate sharp angles or notches in which hair might becomecaught or in which a portion of the towel might be caught in the courseof drying the blade. Below the openings 24 the side edges 21 of theblade are preferably flared outwardly at a slight angle toward thecutting edge 28. This provides a cutting edge of maximum length and, atthe same time, provides a relatively large passage between the corner 29of the tongue and the corner 30 on the main body so that the danger ofcatching and cutting a towel in the course of drying the blade isreduced to a minimum.

Now, in applying the blade to the holder, the blade is slid downwardlyalong the rear surface of the guard plate [5, the main body portion ofthe blade, between the edges 21, fitting between the side walls I4 ofthe holder while the tongues 2| pass along the outer faces'of thegrooved portions I6. These grooved portions of the walls l4, therefore,enter the notches 24 adjacent the inner edges of the tongues 2|. As'theblade is inserted in this manner, the tongues 2! are cammed forwardly toa slight extent by the camming surfaces I1 and 'thusa tension is'applied to the blade, forcing its lower edge against the lower edge3lfof the guardplate I5. I

It will be apparent that the camming action of the surfaces ll will notsimplyserve to bend the tongues 2! relative to the rest of the blade butthe bending force will be transmitted through the narrow portion 32;formed between the upper edge of the blade and the edge 22, toward thecenter or to the unweakened portion of the main body of the blade. Thisrelieves to a considerable extent the strain which would otherwise beimsteeper and the blade may be forced with a correspondingly greaterpressure against the lower edge 3;! of the guard' This greater forceacting on the blade, coupled with the transmission of,

the force through the narrow neck portions 32 to a point nearer thecenter of the blade, insures a substantially uniform engagement of theentire length of the blade with the guard plate. Furthermore, it will beapparent that since the strain is partially absorbed by the body of theblade itself it is possible to flex the blade outwardly away from theprojection [9, to a greater extent than can be safely done with theolder styles of blades, in removing the blade from the holder.Accordingly, the projections l9 may be made to provide relatively deepshoulders, serving to positively-lock the blade in position. So, also,the distribution of the strain over a larger area makes it possible toharden the blade to a greater extent than the older types and to use athicker or heavier steel than heretofore without danger of breakage atany point in applying it to and removing it from the holder. Byincreasing the thickness of the blade several thousandths of an inch,the rigidity of the cutting edge may be increased and the blade as awhole maybe held more firmly in place.

While an illustrative form of the invention has been disclosed inconsiderable detail, it will be understood that various changes may bemade without departing from the general principles and scope of theinvention. The blade disclosed herein is particularly adapted for use inconnection with the holder illustrated but it may also be used toadvantage with otherholders. While the substantially triangular form ofthe notch, is preferred, the benefits of the invention may be derived,to a greater or less extent, by the provision of notches of other forms.For example, the edges 22 and 23 in lieu of being straight may be curvedslightly. So also, the notches may be made longer and narrower, ifdesired. Other changes will suggest themselves to those skilled in theart. The terms and expressions used herein have been employed as termsof description and not of limitation.

What I claim is:

1. A razor blade comprising a main body portion, and a flexible tongueat each end thereof having one end free and the other end integrallyconnected with said body portion, said tongues extending atsubstantially a right angle to the length of the blade, and the ends ofsaid body portion being notched opposite said tongues to provide anarrow neck joining each of said tongues with said body portion. 7

2. A razor blade comprising a main body portion, and a flexible tongueintegrally connected H with said body portion at each end thereof, saidtongues extending at substantially a right angle to the length ofthe'blade, andthe ends of said body portion being provided withsubstantially triangular notches opposite said tongues to provide anarrow neck joining each-of said tongues with said body portion. I

3. A razor blade comprising a main body portion, and a cam engagingtongue at each end of said body portionextending at substantially aright angle to the length of the blade,each of said tongues having oneof its ends free and the other end connected with said body portion by asection of gradually increasing width disposed at an angle tothe'lengthof said tongue.

4. A razor blade comprising'a main body portion, and a flexible tongueat each end thereof having one end free and the other end integrallyconnected with said body portion, said tongues extending atsubstantially a' right angle to the length of the blade, and the ends ofsaid body portion being provided with substantially triangular notchesopposite said tongues, substantially the full lengths'of the tonguesforming the bases of the triangular notches.

5. A razor blade comprising a main body portion having a v notch in eachend thereof, and a tongue integral with each end of said body portionextending across'the open end of said notch,

the length of said tonguebeing substantially coextensive with theopenendof the notch.

6. A razor blade comprising a main body portion having a V-notch in eachend thereof, and a tongue integral with each end of said body por tionextending across the open end of said notchvv to the length of the bladeand having one of? their ends free, and the ends of said body portionbeing provided with substantially triangular notches opposite saidtongues, a passage into each of said notches bein D T OVided adjacentthe end of the associated tongue, the corners of said notches being'well rounded. 7

8. Ina device of the class described a holder havinga pair of end wallsand a guard plate connecting said walls, cam surfaces disposed on saidwalls, and a blade having a body portion disposed along said guard plateand a tongue at each end of said body portion arranged to engage one ofsaid cam surfaces and be tensioned thereby, said body portion havingsubstantially triangular notches formed in the ends thereof oppositesaid tongues and adjacent the points of connection of said tongues withsaid body portion to render the latter more flexible at said points.

9. In a device of the class described a holder having a pair of endwalls and a guard plate connecting said walls, cam surfaces disposed onsaid Walls, and a blade having a body portion disposed along said guardplate and a tongue at each end of said body portion arranged to engageone of said cam surfaces and be tensioned thereby, said body portionbeing weakened adjacent the points of connection of said tonguestherewith to a progressively decreasing extent toward the transversecenter line of the blade to cause said body portion to relieve thestrain imparted to said tongues and transmit the same toward the centerof said body portion.

10. In a device of the class described a holder having a pair of endwalls and a guard plate connecting said walls, a blade having a bodyportion disposed along said guard plate and tongues integrally connectedwith the ends of said body portion, and means on said holder engagingsaid tongues to tension the same and urge said body portion against saidplate, said body portion having V-shaped notches in the ends thereofadjacent said tongues to relieve the strain at the point of connectionof said tongues and transmit the same toward the center of said bodyportion.

11. In a device of the class described a holder having a pair of endwalls and a guard plate con necting said walls, a blade having a bodyportion disposed along said guard plate and tongues integrally connectedwith the ends of said body portion, and means on said holder engagingsaid tongues to tension the same and urge said body portion against saidplate, said body portion having substantially triangular notches in theends thereof adjacent said tongues to relieve the strain at the point ofconnection of said tongues and transmit the same toward the center ofsaid body portion, said blade and holder having coacting surfacesrendered effective by the tensioning of said tongues for locking saidblade in place.

JOHN E. DREW.

